Our Staff

Chris Wilcox, Managing & Artistic Director

Chris Wilcox has been the magic behind the Scotia Festival of Music and the Music Room for more than 37 years now. His passion for the music and the people involved is now legend in Halifax and beyond. Chris is the Managing and Artistic Director of the organization and he is a natural leader for chamber music in Halifax.Chris studied clarinet with Robert Marcellus, Principal Clarinet of the Cleveland Orchestra in 1962 and this began a life-long friendship. He played clarinet with the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra before eventually moving into management and leadership roles starting the Scotia Festival of Music in 1980 with Robert Marcellus as Artistic Director. From 1989-1992 Chris was the Artistic and Managing Director of Music Toronto, which was Canada’s largest presenter of chamber music at that time.Chris has sat on many Boards including: The Canadian Association of Youth Orchestras, the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra, Upstream and the Symphony Musicians trust fund – a three-man Board, that, after the collapse of the Atlantic Symphony, kept orchestra music alive and helped give birth to Symphony Nova Scotia. Chris sat on Canada Council juries eleven times and has been awarded an honorary Doctoral Degree in Civil Laws from the University of King’s College.His passion for chamber music, his giving personality, along with his considerable administrative and leadership skills have enabled the people of Halifax to enjoy some of the finest chamber music available anywhere.

Cindy Haines, General Manager

Cindy Haines is the General Manager for the Scotia Festival of Music and the Music Room. Her hard work and dedication keep things running smoothly and efficiently. Cindy was introduced to the Scotia Festival of Music while working for the festival in 1988 & 1989. During this work term she fell in love with arts administration and found her vocational calling in life. She started working full time for the organization after graduating from Dalhousie in 1990.When not planning for the festival, overseeing the Music Room’s chamber music series or running car raffles, Cindy enjoys spending time with family and friends, going on road trips around gorgeous Nova Scotia and walking by the ocean with her two beautiful Shelties.

Tyler Myalls is the Event & Technical Coordinator, Recording Engineer, Graphic Designer, Marketing Coordinator and Website & Social Media Administrator for both Scotia Festival of Music and The Music Room. He has worked with hundreds of artists including Myles Goodwyn, Basia Bulat, Christopher Ward, Michale Graves (Misfits), Jason Collett (Broken Social Scene), and k.d. Lang. His recordings have won and been nominated for numerous awards including an ECMA win for "Instrumental Recording of the Year" in 2007 for Troy MacGillivray's "Live at The Music Room" and another ECMA win in 2013 for "Aboriginal Recording of the Year" for Lone Cloud's "We Are Medicine People".Tyler also plays guitar and sings in an outlaw country band.